Your Right to Know

WASHINGTON — A Senate panel sent former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray’s nomination to
lead a consumer watchdog agency to the full Senate yesterday, but his confirmation is anything but
certain.

The Senate Banking Committee approved Cordray’s selection as director of the federal Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau by a 12-10 vote, with Democrats including Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio
supporting him and Republicans opposing him.

But Cordray’s nomination could stall on the floor of the Senate, where 43 Republicans have vowed
to block his nomination because of their dislike for the structure of the agency he leads. Under
Senate rules, 60 votes will be needed to end any filibuster and get a vote on Cordray’s nomination.
It’s unclear when the Senate will schedule a vote.

Senate Republicans say that the bureau has been given too much power. They want it headed by a
board, not one director, and they want it subject to the congressional appropriations process. They
say they won’t approve Cordray’s nomination unless the structure is changed.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, did not sign the letter sent to President Barack Obama by his fellow
Senate Republicans, saying instead he would like for Cordray to change the agency from within to
earn his support.

“As a nominee to head an independent agency, Director Cordray has the opportunity to stake out a
position independent of the White House in favor of some basic checks and balances that apply to
other important regulators,” said Caitlin Dunn, a Portman spokeswoman. “That’s the way to find a
path forward in the Senate on this nomination.”

Democrats say Congress decided on the structure of the bureau when they established it, and they
point to Cordray’s work during his first year at the helm of the agency as proof that he’s the
right man for the position.

Cordray was chosen to lead the new agency last year under a controversial recess appointment on
the same day that Obama filled three vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board. In January, a
federal appeals court ruled that the three labor-board appointments were unconstitutional.
Republicans say that because Cordray was appointed on the same day in the same way, his appointment
was, too.

If he isn’t confirmed, Cordray could challenge Gov. John Kasich next year. Cordray’s current
term expires at the end of this year.

In another matter yesterday, the Senate panel approved the nomination of Mary Jo White to head
the Securities and Exchange Commission. Brown was the lone member of the banking committee to vote
against her confirmation.

He said he did so because he thought White was too close to the Wall Street culture that she
would oversee as a watchdog.

“I see a Washington bias toward Wall Street,” he said in an interview after the vote. “There are
a number of other people who could do this job well who have never been in the middle of the Wall
Street culture.”